4 REPTILES. 



The teeth of wild beads, and of ferpents, arc 

 not only created as inftruments of vengeance, but 

 are falutary in leiGiening the numbers of thofe ani- 

 mals which are highly ufeful in the degree, and 

 only hurtful in their excefs ; but if their bad qua- 

 lities are ferviceable, we are more indebted to their 

 good ones than we chufe to acknowleore. 



But many of the animals that form this clafs are 

 of immediate benefic to mankind. The Turtle, 

 or Sea-Tortoife, fupplies the torrid zone with a 

 wholefome and delicious food, as the epicures of 

 our own country can atteft. Frogs are a food in 

 feveral parts, as Lizards and Serpents are in others. 



The medicinal virtues of the Viper are partly 

 exploded by the moderns, but time, the over- 

 thrower of fyftems, as well as empires, may reftore 

 it to the rank it held with the antients. The La- 

 cert a Scincus is, however, yet efteemed in the Eajl 

 for its falubrious qualities, and even Toads have 

 contributed to the eafe of patients in the molt in- 

 veterate of all difeafes. 



Had I followed Linn^us, and included the Car- 

 tilaginous Fifh in this clafs, there would have 

 been ample room for panegyric, for it is very 

 doubtful whether any are pernicious -, but the ufe 

 of many, either as food or for mechanical pur- 

 pofes, were never queftioned. 



But if the external figure of the reptile tribe is 

 difgufling, they have one general beauty, an apt 

 configuration of parts for their way of life, nor 



arc 



osi 



